Goalkeepers are unique - it’s a well known fact that you have to be a little bit different to choose a life between the posts! Whether that’s the love of saving rather than scoring, the bravery (or madness) of diving at a player’s feet, or the patience to be ready for one key moment, there is so much that differentiates a goalkeeper from an outfield player.
But one area of difference is only now beginning to be understood - the physical training that a GK must complete in the gym compared to the rest of the team.
What is Football Gym Training?
Long gone are the days where a player’s work was solely on the pitch - footballers nowadays are thoroughbred athletes, who follow detailed strength and conditioning training programmes to improve their performance on match day. Whether it’s to increase their speed, improve their stamina, or prevent injuries, football clubs spend a lot of time and money to ensure that their players have the correct guidance on what they must do in the gym.
However, there is one problem. There is one position on the pitch that requires further specialist knowledge regarding gym training - the Goalkeeper. Goalkeepers do not need to be able to cover all 4 corners of the pitch in 90 minutes, nor should they prioritise the strength and stability of the lower body like outfield players; Goalkeepers are a different kind of athlete all together.
With the jumping requirements of a volleyball player, and the core strength needs of a rugby forward, the Goalkeeper is a hybrid athlete. The explosive power player amongst a team of endurance performers. Therefore, when it comes to the gym, Goalkeepers must have a completely different training routine.
Why is Goalkeeper Gym Training different?
Goalkeepers are unique athletes, completely different to outfield footballers. During a 90 minute match, they may be walking for a total of 85 minutes, but the remaining 5 are spent sprinting, jumping, diving - all of which are powerful, high-intensity, anaerobic actions.
If a Goalkeeper were to follow the same gym-programme prescribed to their outfield teammates, they would be undermining a large part of their game. They would be failing to optimise other physical elements which are key for a player in their position, such as shoulder strength, upper-body stability or even jump height.
In the modern game, we often hear Goalkeepers praised for their ‘athleticism’. But it is often the work that these keepers do in the gym that helps them to demonstrate elite athleticism, and be an asset to their team. The ability to be able to move into optimal positions efficiently, but most importantly quickly, could be the most important factor when it comes to making those crucial saves. Gym work often helps GKs to improve that part of their game.
How did I discover Gym Training?
My first experience of Gym Training came when I was a student athlete at Loughborough University. Before attending Loughborough, I had very little understanding of the importance of strength and conditioning for footballers, let alone how different a Goalkeeper’s gym programme should be. As a youth player at a football league club, I still hadn’t been taught about how training in the gym could improve my performance on the pitch, and I had no clue about the best exercises to do, nor how to perform them safely. If I ever did go to the gym (which was rare), I would wander around aimlessly, trying whichever piece of equipment took my fancy, and normally ending a session with an unnecessary amount of bicep curls…
At Loughborough, however, I was taught the importance of position specific strength and conditioning training for improving my performance. Under the guidance of elite strength & conditioning coaches such as Al Stewart, I began to follow a regular gym programme alongside my on-pitch training, a combination which had been completely alien to me up until that point in my career.
How did Gym Training help my Goalkeeping?
Although those early morning gym sessions were tough, over time I began to see an improvement in my power around the goal, the distance that I could get on my kicks, and my strength when colliding with opposition players in the air.
I also noticed that I was getting injured less often, especially with regards to muscle injuries. The work I was doing in the gym was enabling me to train and play more often, enabling me to increase the load that I was able to handle each training week, keeping me on the pitch for longer.
There is even research to suggest that strength training is one of the most effective ways of preventing injuries, when compared to other activities such as stretching (Lauersen et al. 2014).
What is the best type of Gym Training for Goalkeepers?
When considering strength & conditioning exercises for Goalkeepers, there are four main areas to consider:
Increasing your rate of force production: The demands of the goalkeeping position require large amounts of force to be applied quickly during sprinting / jumping / or acceleration actions. The more force we can produce as a goalkeeper, the greater the physical foundations for turning this into explosive qualities.
Improving your explosive qualities: As a goalkeeper, the ability to be explosive is arguably the most important physical quality to develop. This is our match winning quality, the more explosive we are, the quicker we can get into the right positions.
Unlocking your movement potential: Goalkeepers need to be able to move efficiently and effectively to get into positions to make saves. Improving your movement qualities will allow you to get into positions more easily and reduce the chance of injury.
Reducing the chances of injury: A well designed and structured strength programme will create physical robustness. Your body will be designed to tolerate high amounts of force, and will keep you fresh and injury free so you can continue to develop as a goalkeeper.
There are many different combinations of exercises that a goalkeeper can use in the gym, but the best programmes will cover these four areas effectively.
Over on the YouTube channel, we have some videos which give you a demonstration of example gym sessions for Goalkeepers, such as this one for focusing on Strength:
And this one for working on Power:
The Goalkeeper Plyometrics Programme
After leaving Loughborough University and continuing with my football career, I wanted to continue to improve my understanding of Gym Training, and to keep seeing its benefits in my game. It was at that point that I was fortunate enough to start working with GameSharp Performance.
Founded in 2019, GameSharp consists of Sam Farmer & Tommy Munday, two strength & conditioning coaches who have experience in elite football environments. We started working together to build a programme that I could follow in the gym, to help me to perform to my best on the pitch. And after some of the best seasons of my career in 2021 & 2022, we decided to work together to create a Gym Training Programme for all Goalkeepers - and as a result The Goalkeeper Strength Programme was born!
The Goalkeeper Strength Programme is a 12-week PDF goalkeeper-specific gym training programme which enables Goalkeepers of all abilities to improve their strength, power and athleticism, with professional support.
The Programme uses a phase potentiation approach across three 4-week blocks, to enable Goalkeepers to lay the foundations of movement & strength training, create strength by increasing force production, before finally developing power and speed.
Fully adaptable to your current training programme, the Programme includes full video demonstrations for all exercises, and professional support from S&C coaches with elite level experience.
Already used by hundreds of goalkeepers worldwide, The Goalkeeper Strength Programme is there to give you the knowledge that I didn’t have; to help you to fully understand the importance of Gym Training as a Goalkeeper, and to implement it to help you to take your game to the next level, whatever your prior experience.
I hope you found this blog post valuable, and that you can get the same results that I did from Gym Training!
Do you have a goalkeeping topic that you would like us to cover next? Let us know at info@conorokeefe.co.uk !
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